Photo: Tiziano Photography, CC BY-SA 3.0 via Wikimedia Commons
Built as a royal hunting lodge from 1675, this grew and grew into a humonguous bling palace, trying to outshine Versailles. It became a barracks and was knocked about in Napoleonic times, remaining military until the 1930s, then the vandals set about it. Restoration was piecemeal until 1996, then a ten-year project brought it back to its former baroque opulence. Highlights include the Salone di Diana, the Galleria Grande, the chapel of Sant’Uberto and the Scuderie (stables). The Gardens are a modern re-imagining. The palace was declared a World Heritage Site by UNESCO in 1997.
The Palace of Venaria is a former royal residence and gardens located in Venaria Reale, near the city of Turin in the Piedmont region in northern Italy. It is one of the 14 Residences of the Royal House of Savoy built in the area between the 16th and 18th centuries which were collectively designated a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1997.
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The "hunting lodge" grew into such a vast palace that what was needed was a new hunting lodge. However, King Victor Emmanuel II needed somewhere to ensconce his mistress La Bela Rosin, so this new lodge in turn became so big and blinged up that . . . life can be really tough when you're a plutocrat monarch. Wild boar, deer and rare breeds of horse roam the park, which has multiple access points. In the 20th century it acquired a golf course and a motor-racing track.
"Juve", founded in 1897, play soccer in Serie A, Italy's top tier, and have almost never been out of the top flight. Allianz Stadium, capacity 41,000, has a club museum.
Basilica of Our Lady Help of Christians
Palladian church built 1865-68, originally as part of a care facility for poor and delinquent boys founded by Don Bosco (1815-88). He himself is buried here, along with 6000 bits and pieces of saints.
Museo della Sindone
The original Sindone or Turin Shroud is in safekeeping in the Cathedral and rarely displayed. This small museum displays a copy and studies the Shroud. It's a remarkable object whatever it is, a 4.4 x 1.1 m winding sheet charred by fire and appearing to bear the likeness of a man, matching the Gospel description of the crucifixion of Jesus. Multiple tests have produced contradictory results, or at least contradictory interpretations. It's only reliably known to have existed since 1390 when it was denounced as a forgery, and radio-carbon dating matches that. But no deliberate attempt to reproduce it has managed to capture all its qualities, especially the 3D effect of its photo negative, and neither natural nor artificial processes convincingly explain it. So just look and wonder.